MONSTER DRAWINGS! PEN AND INK ART 2002

MONSTERS! PEN AND INK DRAWINGS

Monster Drawings! Telepathic shockwaves from the collective unconscious! The MONSTERS scream primal messages; hopes and fears from deep within the psyche. These Rorschach type ink stains express a universal language derivative of emotion, experience, reflex and perception revealing unspoken truths. In search of iconic demons and propelled by a devotion to socialization, these quick ambidextrous analysis’ reach the darkest lobes, simultaneously dancing humorous and monstrously, throughout the mind‘s eye.

Lost amidst the faceless crowds, we become engaged in the “big conversation”; a communicative ballet devoid of words and beyond tangible comprehension. A brief shove, a quick glance, the feeling of something outside of our periphery, all part of the exquisite dialogue! Taking a moment to step out of time with the traffic, inhaling a deep breath, forgetting our ears, then our eyes and we discover...MONSTERS! Strangely terrifying, yet peaceful, these childlike scribbles echo throughout the meditative spaces. Residing between thoughts and routines, these crude hieroglyphics shed physical preconceptions presenting a symbiotic level of understanding, ultimately revealing true characteristics, hidden devils, man as animal, and the collective nature of the individual experience.

Each monster comic panel is dedicated to a single portrait, a single terror, and single joke. The characters are simultaneously recognizable and indistinguishable, like familiar strangers. Perhaps one of them used to live under your bed or the basement stairs? Or just maybe the “MONSTERS” reside in the back of your mind?

Over 250 of these strange sublimations were made using a hand carved bamboo quill pen and off cut matt-boards that had been discarded by a framing company. I used a rapid ambidextrous drawing technique to simulate a sort of free association test. This haphazard approach allowed for some of the most honest and unconventional scribbles to escape from out of my mind and onto the paper. The Monsters were exhibited at several shows including the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2002 and the XPACE Gallery 2004.